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Credit Unions offer savings on student loans

With the latest round of CAO offers out, many parents are now considering their finance options when sending their children to college. A recent survey released from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) stated that approximately six-out-of-10 parents get into debt to cover college costs.
A loan from one of main banks in Ireland can cost over €2,000 more than a credit unions loan (Source: ILCU). ILCU recommends that you consider all your student financing options before choosing which lender is best.
“In Killarney Credit Union, we are very aware of the growing costs in third level sector, especially in light of increasing rental costs in many towns and cities for students. We offer a competitive rate of 6.2% APR education loan to help support parents and students in this regard. We are in fact, the cheapest for credit, among all the main lenders” stated Mark Murphy, Manager, Killarney Credit Union.
If a student were borrowing €11,000 over a 5 year term, of the high street banks. BoI charges 7.5pc interest on a personal loan of €11,000 – which is €2,148 in interest over five years. Next in line is AIB, which charges 8.73pc interest on a parent student finance loan. At that rate, it will cost €2,509 over five years to borrow €11,000. Killarney Credit Union is more than €400.00 cheaper in interest than the main banks.
The most expensive banks to borrow €11,000 from are KBC Bank, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank. KBC charges 12.7pc interest on a loan of €11,000 (unless you qualify for its discounted rate of 10.5pc). Borrowing €11,000 over five years at an interest rate of 12.7pc will cost you €3,687 in interest – almost €1,540 more than BoI.
Permanent TSB charges 12.5pc interest on a standard personal loan of €11,000 – which will cost you €3,614 over five years. Permanent TSB also offers cash secured loans with an interest rate of 7.1pc – but you can only get this rate if your entire loan is secured on savings which you hold. Ulster Bank charges 12.3pc on its fixed rate parental student loan – this will cost you €3,569 on borrowings of €11,000. (Source: Irish Independent Business).
Killarney Credit Union is by far the cheapest option for educational lending with a rate of 6.2% APR with interest of €1,732.20 over the 5 year term for a loan of €11,000.
In addition, to offering competitive loan rates, Killarney Credit Union is offering an educational bursary of €1,000 to 4 lucky students who are entering 3rd level for the first time. Applicants must be members of the credit union and the closing date for applications is Friday 25th September. Application forms are available from www.killarneycu.ie.